U.s. Still Favors Bosnian Air Strikes

July 31, 1993|By Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The Clinton administration said Friday that it was encouraged by the new framework for a peace agreement in Bosnia, but it stepped up efforts to pressure Serb leaders into sparing Sarajevo and guaranteeing Muslims a share in any partition of the country.

While generally welcoming the preliminary accord, the administration asked U.S. allies to hold a NATO meeting early next week to consider possible military action in Bosnia, including a new U.S. plan to authorize air strikes in Serb-held areas to underscore allied resolve.

As described by senior officials, the U.S. plan would be intended to prod Bosnian Serb leaders into halting their attack on Sarajevo and granting Muslims a significant portion of land when the new ''map'' of Bosnia - called for by Friday's framework - is drawn up.

Under the U.S. plan, if the Serbs agreed to the allied terms, NATO would drop its plans to launch air strikes. But if they balked, NATO aircraft would bomb Serb-held arsenals, radar installations and command centers - not just near Sarajevo but elsewhere in Bosnia.

It was not immediately clear how many of the allies would support the U.S. initiative. If the U.S. plan does not win sufficient backing, NATO presumably would agree to merely help protect U.N. forces now on duty in Bosnia.

U.S. officials argue that the move to preserve a portion of Bosnia for Muslim rule under any new peace agreement - and to save the city of Sarajevo, which traditionally has been heavily Muslim - is crucial to making any settlement work.

They warn that if the Muslims are shut out, as the Bosnian Serbs have proposed in the past, it will risk creating a tinderbox in which Muslim guerrilla groups would be constantly fighting for a share of the territory.